NATO’s top commander Alexey Grinkevich said on Tuesday that it would take years for the US to withdraw its troops from Europe.
This comes after US President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of about 5,000 troops from Germany and the cancellation of the deployment of long-range Tomahawk missiles.
What did the general say on America’s withdrawal from Europe?
The general stressed that the US withdrawal would be coordinated with European allies strengthening their defense capabilities.
“As the European pillar of the alliance continues to strengthen, this allows the United States to reduce its presence in Europe and limit itself to providing only those critical capabilities that allies cannot yet provide,” Grinkevich told reporters after a meeting of NATO military chiefs at the military alliance’s headquarters in Brussels.
“We will be in good coordination with our partners moving forward,” he said.
“I can’t really give you an exact timeline; it’s going to be a process that’s going to take several years.”
Grinkevich is a U.S. Air Force general and serves as supreme allied commander of the NATO military alliance.
No other withdrawals ‘in the near term’ – Grinkevich
He said Trump’s decision to withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany was the only one he was aware of “in the near future.”
Grinkevich’s comments appear to contradict Trump’s earlier statement that Washington would “drastically” reduce the US military presence in Germany.
The United States currently has approximately 50,000 troops stationed in Germany.
Trump’s surprise announcement came after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz suggested Washington was being “humiliated” in a war with Iran.
The US president has long called on European allies to increase their military spending and rely less on the United States.
In June last year, NATO countries agreed to increase their military spending to 5% of GDP in line with Trump’s demands, with Spain being the only member state to opt out.
Edited by: Louis Olofse